Really Wonderful
by writingaces
Summary: "Everything in her apartment looked the same as it had when her life was in tatters." Oneshot.


**Really Wonderful**

So even though I'm trying to be spoiler-free for season 5, I saw snips of the TV Line season 5 questions/answers and something Stana said about "really wonderful lovemaking." So I took that and ran with it.

* * *

She was lost in thought the whole way home.

Her parting kiss with Castle as she walked out his door had started out as an innocent goodbye kiss (in which they both reveled because _they do that now_) but had quickly escalated into an encore of the previous night's door-shutting, toe-curling kiss. Kate had needed to break away, breathing heavily, before the quick goodbye turned into something she couldn't walk away from, and slipped out the door, reminding Castle she was only running home to change into fresh clothes.

The last thing she saw before she shut the door was his patented puppy-dog pout; with every step farther away from him she focused more and more on the other facial expressions she had witnessed since she showed up at his door in a rainstorm.

Like the look of stunned joy when he realized she was serious; the heated smirk when she grabbed his hand and steered the both of them into his bedroom.

Or the sheer want in his eyes when she was peeling off wet layers of clothing in an effort to speed up the wait time before her bare skin was on his. The really wonderful feeling of her bare skin on his.

Kate was so caught up in her mental replay of the intensity of last night's _everything_ that it took several moments to notice she was standing in front of the door to her own apartment. Her key clicked in the lock and she swung open the door, but didn't move.

She hadn't been home since the screaming match with Castle, since he told her he loved her, since she nearly died _again_. Since she finally decided to live for _herself._ Since she admitted to herself (and to Castle) that she truly wanted him.

Everything in her apartment looked the same as it had when her life was in tatters. She didn't understand how it could all look the same when every other thing in her universe had changed drastically. She stepped across the threshold tentatively, almost as if walking back into something of her old mentality would reverse the last twenty-four hours, and breathed an irrational sigh of relief before regaining her presence of mind and moving quickly through the flat.

* * *

"_I just need to get some non rain-soaked clothes, Castle. I'm not crossing the Atlantic." _

_He was whining. Not that she faulted him for it; she didn't want to leave either, but she really needed something to wear other than stiffly dried jeans or Castle's shirt. And she _really _didn't want to be wearing one of his shirts when his daughter returns home. _

_Castle reached out and snagged her hand before she could get too far away from the bed. He was looking at her seriously now. "You are coming back, though, right?" He immediately hated himself for asking when he saw the brief look of hurt flash across Kate's eyes. The last thing he wanted to do now is accidentally drive her away. _

_Before answering, she swallowed hard and looked at him in that really wonderful way she did when she tried in vain to read his thoughts. "I'm not going anywhere," she responded fiercely. "I will be back as soon I have clothes acceptable for your daughter to see me in."_

_He surged forward and sealed his mouth to hers, trying to convey an apology and an intense joy all in one motion. When they broke apart for air, she rested her forehead against his. "Make me some coffee before I go?"_

* * *

Kate had intended to spend a maximum of fifteen minutes in her apartment—not only to keep her promise to Castle, but also because every part of her wanted to be back in his luxurious bed while he did really wonderful things to her body.

But her apartment distracted her, as though it was some museum display built as a testament to the walled-up life she stopped living eighteen hours before. A part of her had a strong urge to simply empty the place and start over; an even bigger part of her wanted to keep it the same— keep the memory, the physical reminder—but brand it with everything she'd be feeling since sitting on those swings.

Looking at her apartment after spending a blissful night in Castle's bed, Kate could see exactly how far she'd come since Castle had waltzed into her life nearly five years ago.

And suddenly she was tearing through the apartment, looking for shoes and pants and anything she could get on (and Castle could take off) easily. Without even considering the possibility of being presumptuous (she could just imagine him saying "Of course!" in a gleeful voice), she threw a few spare changes of clothes into a small bag and headed out the door, only just barely remembering to lock it behind her.

* * *

_For some ungodly reason, Kate had woken up in the dead of the night. She was curled into Castle's chest and his even breaths ruffled her hair slightly. _

_His breaths were a little _too_ even. "Were you watching me sleep?" she teased in a whisper, shifting to look at his face. _

_Two remarkably blue eyes now looked down to meet her gaze. "Can't help it," he whispered back. "You're too beautiful to not look at." Even though she knew he couldn't see her blush in the dark of the early morning, she still ducked her head, pressing a soft kiss on his shoulder in response. He had always joked, with undertones of sincerity, of her attractiveness, but whenever he paid her a straightforward compliment on her appearance, Kate felt a slight rush of schoolgirl giddiness. _

"_You're just saying that so I don't say you're being creepy." _

"_Nope," he said, beginning to trail open-mouthed kisses down her neck and shoulder. "You're just really, wonderfully, amazingly beautiful."_

* * *

Castle flung open the door to his loft before Kate had even finished knocking. A look that was a mixture of relief and lust and love washed over his face; it was a familiar look to Kate, but now that they had changed things, she could accept that look for what it was. One of his hands slid the duffel bag off her shoulder to toss it aside and the other gripped her hip tightly to pull her inside and into yet another fierce kiss.

He shut the door with her body again.

"I'm not so sure I can handle a greeting like this every time I walk through your door," she gasped out when his mouth moved to trail down her neck.

Castle leaned back and arched a brow at her. "Really? I personally think it's a really wonderful way to say hello."

* * *

_Thoughts?_


End file.
